What’s the ceiling (and floor) for the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2022 Playoffs?

The Memphis Grizzlies have one of the lowest floors in the playoffs

After scrapping and clawing their way through the play-in last year (for the first playoff birth since the 14-15’ season), the team finds themselves in a very different position of being heavy favorites going into round one this year.

No longer the underdog hunting for wins, they find themselves with the second-highest betting odds to win their series matchup.

They are favorites for the first time in the new era of  Memphis Grizzlies basketball. Whether it was the time off or too much pressure, Game 1 proved to be too much.

It was an immediate wake-up call, showing how low their floor can be. The team seemed to get in a time machine and revert to how they played in Ja Morant’s rookie season.

The combination of not being able to get any pace in the game with missing three-pointers, resulted in a lot of standing around and watching Ja throw himself into walls of defenders.

Ja is incredible, but this is the floor as far as playstyle is concerned.

In Game 3, the Grizzlies found out what an emotional floor looks like. They started the game getting blasted on the court and by the raucous crowd in Minnesota.

Instead of the gritty response we are used to seeing, the Grizzlies slumped their shoulders and dropped their heads for most of the game. If the Grizzlies continued to play poorly and let it affect their mentality as well, then they would quickly find their floor for these playoffs by enduring another round one exit.

This Timberwolves team has a lot of weaknesses, but if you do not come to play, they will get hot and beat you all while letting you hear about it.

SOME good news is that even with the bad play in Game 1, the Grizzlies hung around the entire game and were one run away from potentially stealing the game. That run never came and they dropped Game 1.

In Game 3, they did find that run and eked out a win, showing a veteran prowess that no team their age and with their experience would ever even think about.

To this point in the playoffs, the Grizz have not even tapped their potential.

Let’s get to some good news: their ceiling.